Pekovic, Timberwolves agree on new 5-yr, $60M deal

FILE - In this March 24, 2013, file photo, Minnesota Timberwolves' Nikola Pekovic, left, of Montenegro, drives against Chicago Bulls' Nazr Mohammed during an NBA basketball game in Minneapolis. After weeks of negotiations, waiting and watching, Pekovic and the Timberwolves came to agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013, on a new five-year contract worth $60 million that includes an additional $8 million in incentives. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
— AP

FILE - In this March 24, 2013, file photo, Minnesota Timberwolves' Nikola Pekovic, left, of Montenegro, drives against Chicago Bulls' Nazr Mohammed during an NBA basketball game in Minneapolis. After weeks of negotiations, waiting and watching, Pekovic and the Timberwolves came to agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013, on a new five-year contract worth $60 million that includes an additional $8 million in incentives. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
/ AP

MINNEAPOLIS 
Nikola Pekovic didn't want to leave Minnesota, and the Timberwolves weren't about to let him go.

After weeks of negotiations, waiting and watching, the two sides came to agreement on Wednesday on a new five-year contract worth $60 million that includes an additional $8 million in incentives.

"He's a dominating offensive player," Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said in a conference call. "He plays extremely hard. He probably will work as hard as he can to live up to a contract he signs, whatever it is worth."

After posting a career-high 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game last season, the 27-year-old Pekovic was a restricted free agent when the NBA's fiscal year opened on July 1. That meant the Timberwolves had the right to match any offer he received from another team, and Saunders made it clear from the start that they would do whatever it took to keep him in Minnesota.

In the end, that included adding a fifth year on the initial four-year, $48 million offer they presented Pekovic and his agent, Jeff Schwartz, a few weeks ago.

"With him and Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, we've got three cornerstones in that franchise that all complement each other," Saunders said.

After three seasons in the NBA, Pekovic has emerged as one of the best offensive big men in an increasingly center-scarce league. He figured to garner a lot of interest from other teams looking to add some size and scoring to the paint. He waited for Dwight Howard to choose between several suitors. When Howard signed with the Houston Rockets, the belief was that a lucrative offer from one of the teams that missed out - perhaps the Hawks or Mavericks - could be on the way.

Both of those teams decided not to pursue Pekovic, but the Timberwolves were still left holding their breath in hopes that another team with abundant cap space like the Bucks would force their hand with a monster offer.

That offer never came. With the market settling down and the likelihood of another offer growing more remote by the day, Saunders came through with the fifth year on the deal to get it done. Because Pekovic was a restricted free agent and not signing an extension on his rookie deal, the Timberwolves still have the one five-year, rookie scale deal allowed by the current collective bargaining agreement for Rubio, if they so choose.

There was some question about whether giving Pekovic five years would agitate Love, who wasn't happy when previous president David Kahn refused to give him the team's "designated player" five-year extension in 2012. But Kahn was fired after last season and Saunders said he has had conversations about the Pekovic deal with Love, who gave his full support.

"More than anything else Kevin wants to win," Saunders said. "As we talked about Pek, he said, `You have to do what you have to do.' ... I don't know what's been done in the past and I really don't care. As he said, we're moving forward."